In the immortal words of Marty McFly, This is Heavy! Better be sure you’re sitting down for this one folks.

Starcraft 2 GSL News: MC Falls Out of Code A

After losing his up and down matches recently, renowned Protoss master MC has fallen out of Code A. This comes as a shock to the community at large as MC is widely considered to be one of, if not THE, best Protoss player in the world!

One could certainly argue that the current metagame has Protoss players at a disadvantage, or perhaps Protoss players have not evolved with the current metagame enough to counter new aggressive builds from Terran players such as the 1/1/1 All In (A build in which the Terran player gets units from the barracks, factory and starport, rushing down the enemy base using SCVs (or worker units) to soak up damage from the unprepared enemy).

It does not help that even in matches where a Protoss player has the proper composition for dealing with a particular build, almost every single unit in the Protoss army is effectively turned into butter by one spell – EMP. Controversy surrounding this Ghost spell has always been hot, but especially so after the nerf/complete removal of the Kaldaren Amulet research, which allowed the Protoss’ High Templar units to start with enough energy for a Psi Storm – nevermind the fact that EMP is instant and has no Damage over Time effect on the ground. All of the effect is frontloaded, turning shields on Protoss units into vapor and completely erridacating any energy on units such as the Sentry and High Templar which are integral to the Protoss Army.

Though there are a bunch of Protoss newcomers to the GSL’s Code A, it will be interesting to see if they can triumph over the Terran and Zerg players despite their race’s handicap.

Thanks to the official Street Fighter X Tekken website, we now have firm details on exactly how Pandora Mode works.

• Press ↓↓MP+MK simultaneously when your vitality gauge is under 25% to activate Pandora. When you activate Pandora, your partner’s strength will increase exponentially.
• The power of the character who calls upon Pandora is necessary to fuel the technique. By sacrificing their vitality to Pandora, their partner will be able to enter Pandora mode.
• Pandora is a system with a built-in time limit. In Pandora mode, the Cross Gauge will be filled to maximum capacity, and you will be able to use EX and Super Arts infinitely. However, if you are not able to defeat your opponent within the time limit, you will automatically be knocked out. Be careful when you use this technique!

The page also has details on scramble mode (in which you share your health with your partner), and an announcement about the Gem System. They note “My Ryu is different from your Ryu!? The traditional Cross Gauge from before now has slots above and below it! What exactly do these do!? You’ll find out more about this soon!”

Fnatic Establishes a Starcraft 2 Training School

Fnatic has been involved in Starcraft 2 since beta, and has had many successful players come in an out of the Australian based organization. Having signed many talented players such as Lok-Yin 'KawaiiRice' Kwong, Silviu 'NightEnD' Lazar, and Payam 'TT1' Toghyan.

They've also signed notorious Korean Terran Seo-Yong 'Rain' Park, and the Warcraft 3 legend Yoan 'ToD' Merlo, both who have had many high placings in various events such as, Major League Gaming, CraftCups, and even the Global Starcraft 2 League or GSL.

However, it seems that Fnatic wanted to expand its Korean presence, and has decided to create a Korean Starcraft 2 Academy in the hopes of establishing a significant presence in the Korean Starcraft 2 scene, where the best of the best compete.

Fnatic GM Elroy Pinto had this to say:

"Today we begin a new chapter in StarCraft 2 in FnaticMSI. We are happy to welcome 3 talented Korean amateurs into our team. Thanks to efforts of Vestige and Brian we find oursevles taking up this project where we look to develop the untapped talent available in South Korea. August, Skit & Porigo will be joined by some more players in the coming months.

We are looking forward to their progress and are very sure that they will perform to the highest standard needed to compete internationally and we will be there to support them right from their first baby steps! Please give them a warm welcome and a big thanks to MSI, SteelSeries, EIZO & RaidCall for their support on this."

Fnatic's Korean Connection Brian Choi also released a statement:

"My name is Brian Hyun Choi known as DoubleD or FnaticSpS. I have been personal manager, translator, a good friend for FnaticMSI.Rain since late June. I currently go to a graduate school in the US. Today, I am here as the inventor of FnaticMSI's Starcraft 2 Academy team - a new branch from FnaticMSI.SC2 to develop and search young and talented SC2 gamers in South Korea.

I am really content and excited to open this new project up. I believe this can be a leading step towards the globalization of the Starcraft 2 scene, or e-sports if one observes in a bigger scale. Our primary goal is to develop these young Korean players who have potentials, but have not been given the opportunity to reveal them fully.

Furthermore, I believe that this will allow the cooperation between the current FnaticMSI.SC2 pro team members and the new Fnatic.KR members, both game wise and social-life wise. I believe that Team FnaticMSI has taken a big step to become the leading member of the globalization of e-Sports. I am grateful to Team FnaticMSI for giving the opportunity to operate this new program and I will do my best with the two managers, Elroy “Noname” Pinto and Seung Hwan “Vestige” Hong to alleviate communication and management issues as much as possible to run this new team without much troublesome.

Thank you for everyone who supported this project and once again, I will give my best efforts to assist in the smooth operation of the team."

Wonder what kind of talent will come out of this new endeavor… guess all we can do is wait and see! We’ll bring you the latest on Fnatic’s new Starcraft 2 School as further information surfaces.

Sixjax Gaming Disbands

In a move that surprised no one after the departure of DDE and dismissal of Maj0r from Sixjax, the team announced its disbanding two days ago on Teamliquid.net. Below is the press release from captain Evoli of Sixjax Gaming.

It's been nearly a year since the team Sixjax Gaming was formed. In that time the team and its members have accomplished much. Our player's individual achievements are countless, and our collective success in clan wars showed that we were capable of competing with the best in the world. It was fantastic seeing the team grow from relative obscurity to what it was at its best.

That said, I am here with a heavy heart to announce that Sixjax Gaming is disbanding.

For many of you this announcement won't be a huge surprise. The last few months have been hard on the team. Though our organization's players and administration have tried everything within reason to keep the team chugging along, it has become apparent that the appropriate course of action here is to shut down the team and let everyone pursue opportunities elsewhere.

We'd like to thank our former sponsor Sixjax.com for all their support. Without their help we wouldn't have been able to do many of things we did.

I'd personally like to thank the players for keeping their chins up through thick and thin. Everyone showed a great deal of character, even through roughest times. Though we'll all likely be flying different flags soon, I'll always be a fan of all the former Sixjax Gaming players

Good luck to all of the former members of Sixjax from us here at GameZone – you’re all extremely talented and will find new teams in no time. Except for Artosis, I feel sorry for you and all, but you really should just stick to shoutcasting matches. It’s what you’re good at.

Daigo Umehara vs Poongko Show Match – First to 10 Set

After being perfected and knocked out of Evo 2011, Daigo Umehara had something to prove on Saturday, publicly challenging Poongko to a Show Match after Tougeki. Some outstanding matches here showcasing high level Yun and Seth play in Super Street Fighter 4 AE.